By Umaru Fofana
2020 has been an eventful year for the world in which bitter politics and the coronavirus have brought about a toxic mix. It has been so in advance democracies as much as it has been in developing countries such as Sierra Leone.
While the Julius Maada Bio government will measure the year by the result of their response to the pandemic which has seen the country rated among the safest places to visit on the continent, their political opponents will cite the stubbornly problematic payment of the hazard allowances of health care workers who responded to the coronavirus, one that persists up to today with many complaining of non-payment.
Add to that the damning internal audit report on the response that reads like an encore of the Ebola probe in 2014/15. So perhaps it is safe to say that the response to the pandemic had the right policy framework, but terribly implanted on the fiscal front. It begs the question as to whether something fundamental is wrong with our public officials – perhaps Sierra Leoneans generally – insofar as financial accountability is concerned. Many public servants seem to be in it for themselves first, second and third, before the public interest.
That fallout from that audit report will take us deep into the New Year, and possibly beyond. Unless, probably, after the next one is out for the 2020 financial year. How the government and especially the ruling SLPP party MPs and the anticorruption commission respond to it will give us a clearer understanding of how seriously the fight against graft is truly being pursued in Sierra Leone.
All of this comes at the tail end of the year. A year – 2020 – that was never short of political intrigues and drama. Agreed it was dominated by the Covid19 pandemic but despite that, or maybe because of it, politics was centre stage. So much so that something as straight forward as passing emergency measures to confront the biggest threat to humankind in a century (coronavirus) and giving powers to enforce them could not pass without tension and fighting. All thanks to a government that does not seem to like consulting with the opposition and letting them have their way even where necessary, and an opposition that seems to want to score political points at every opportunity no matter the consequence.
There were clashes that led to deaths over things that were as sublime as they were ridiculous. From Lunsar over law enforcement that was resisted by angry youths, to Tombo where the insensitive implementation of Covid19 rules led to people taking their thinking cap off and getting violent, and to Makeni where miscommunication or misrepresentation over the temporary transfer of a standby generator led to violence by youths, leading to the inappropriate use of arms by the security forces and causing deaths.
Like the days of President Ernest Koroma when police heavy-handedness and killings went unpunished from Kono to Wellington and Kabala, those police officers behind those avoidable killings under President Bio have not been brought to book. It seems the police do no wrong in the eyes of whosoever is in power. Lamentable!
In all this, it is safe to say that the main opposition APC is finishing the year on a high. Having won the contentious by-election in Constituency 110 that had no reason to have been rerun in the first place (APC won it fair and square in 2018 and even the earlier rerun), to the audit report that I just spoke about. How they, and the ruling SLPP, take this forward could set a tone for interesting times in 2021.
In the New Year, when President Julius Maada Bio will turn three in office in April, just as the country turns 60 years since independence, another familiar tune could be heard. Ask any Sierra Leonean what they remember most about the country’s 50th independence anniversary (celebrations) they will tell you about the apparent corruption that bedevilled the event. So will we experience another elaborate commemoration next year? Perhaps not! President Bio is on record as saying that no independence anniversary celebrations will be held with him as head of state until a certain economic threshold has been achieved. That achievement seems a bit far off.
Whether or not celebrations are held to mark 27 April, politics will take centre stage. The SLPP will turn 70 years around the same time. And the party’s executive has been under tremendous pressure that they are an expired bunch of men and women in office. Elections that were to have held this year did not happen. So 2021 will witness their lower level elections culminating into the National Executive elections. The civil war has been on for a while within the party especially between those who want to become Chairman of the party. A largely ceremonial role now, if you ask me, bearing in mind the fact that the country’s president is now the party’s Leader.
A high court injunction stood in the way of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party national conference in Port Loko. Its NRM faction had gone to court to stop the meeting from happening because they wanted certain reforms within the party before that could happen. It is expected that the courts will look into those concerns in 2021 and clear the way for the party to choose its national executive who have also stayed in office beyond the date.
I am not sure what the other of the more than one dozen political parties will do. But the National Grand Coalition (NGC) of Dr Kandeh Yumkella, which for many came as a beacon of hope for the country’s fractious political landscape, will also be holding their own national delegates’ conference. Its National Chairman, Dr Dennis Bright said they would “definitely” be doing so. He said there had been a few delays due to the amendment of their party constitution which was done by the executive but had to go through a lot of process. An extraordinary conference was held this year to ratify it. Lower level elections will be held in the New Year leading to their annual Convention.
These conventions will almost certainly set the tone for de facto campaigning ahead of the 2022 local council elections and the 2023 presidential and legislative elections. Expect a heated debate around the ratification of the controversial amendments of the Local Government Act under which those elections will be held. Already it has engendered a furore over certain clauses contained therein.
No one likes thinking about death despite its inevitability. So there will almost certainly be by-elections in 2021. Expect them to be tense and vitriolic. In the same way as there will be cabinet reshuffles even if not related to death. Some will be sacked. But whatever reshuffle takes place we will not have an election cabinet in 2021. But they will give us an insight as to which way the Bio government is tilting towards. With so much talk about the north-south divide, he may consider bringing in more northerners into his administration. In the reshuffles that will happen, Port Loko, Falaba, Koinadugu and possibly Kambia districts will gain traction in the SLPP’s bid to peel some votes away from the opposition.
In 2021, the way the police handle law and order issues and the fight against corruption will further define our body politic. Parliament may remain the same, unless civil society groups keep their heater on them.
The division will continue. Talking about that it is my view that division along political lines is a good thing if based on democracy and the interest of Sierra Leone and people’s freedom to associate. After all the opposite of the freewill to disagree is a one-party dictatorship. So in a multiparty democracy it is a good thing to disagree in the nation’s interest. But one based on parochial personal, tribal or regional interests is pitiful. With the Peace Commission expected next year, which will guarantee equitable or equal employment opportunities for all Sierra Leoneans regardless of their tribe or region, things should be on the mend. Depending of course on the implementation of the law setting up the commission. Fingers crossed for the motherland.
Happy New Year!
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